K5ZD announcements

WPX SSB 2011 Sets New Record for Logs

We are pleased to announce that the 2011 WPX SSB Contest has set another record for number of log submissions with 5,139 logs received — an increase of 381 (+8%) over last year’s record of 4,758. [See the activity chart to view how WPX log submissions are taking off.]

As always, the growth in log submissions doesn’t happen without the help of a number of volunteers.

Igor, UA4FER, took on the job of encouraging Russian contesters to submit their WPX SSB logs. This effort has been expanded for the CW contest.

The new log check and log submission web page designed by Tzetzo, LZ2FQ, has been a great help. Now people can submit their log and get instant feedback on any errors. They can correct the log and then submit direct to the robot. We encourage everyone to use this page to submit their log for future WPX contests.

We received 58 paper logs representing 8,728 QSOs. Thanks to AE6Y, AL1G, DO4HAM, JY5CC, K1PX, K2DSL, K5ZD, K8PO, KN3A, LY4U, N1XS, UA4FER, and W2JU for typing all of the logs so they can be used for the log checking. Top typist was K1PX with 2,540 hard to read contacts. Next up with 2002 contacts was the data entry team of Paul, K8PO, with help from his XYL Jackie, VA3EEJ.

It is interesting to note how the number of paper logs for WPX SSB is trending over the past 4 years.

Year Logs QSOs
2011 58 8,728
2010 79 11,058
2009 76 8,432
2008 90 11,456

We will continue to accept paper logs because we want everyone to have the opportunity to enter the contest and see their score listed in the results.

The WPX SSB high claimed scores have been updated to include all received logs. (The 196 checklogs are not included in the high claimed scores.) Please confirm your log is there and in the correct category. If you find an error, please contact the Director immediately at k5zd@cqwpx.com.

Thanks to everyone who submitted their log.

K5ZD announcements

Help Wanted: Log checking & administration

It takes a lot of time and effort to continue the success of the WPX Contest.  Contesting is very lucky to have so many people who are willing to give their time and energy back to the sport by helping with the contest operation. For example, Barry, W5GN, handles all of the certificates.  Doug, K1DG, takes care of all plaques. Ken, K1EA, provides the log checking software. There are many volunteers who help by typing in paper logs (I will list all of them in a future blog post). Not to mention IT help from George, K5TR, and Trey, N5KO.

The one area that I have done mostly on my own is the log checking and results. This was necessary to learn the software, how to manage the logs, the file format for CQ Magazine, etc.  These processes and procedures are now well defined. It takes about 300-500 hours per mode to do everything. With WRTC 2014 approaching along with increasing responsibilities in my job, it is time to seek one or two people who would like to be deeply involved in the administration of the WPX Contest and help share this load. 

Job Description

  • Assist the Contest Director with administration of the WPX Contest.

Duties

  • Communicate with participants to assist with and encourage log submission
  • Correct log errors as needed to support the log checking process
  • Evaluate logs for rule compliance and determine bad callsigns or other log checking tasks

Requirements

  • Demonstrated enthusiasm for contesting
  • Knowledge of callsign structures and propagation
  • High level of computer skills and attention to detail
  • Fluent in written and spoken English. Ideal candidate will also be fluent in one other language (e.g., Russian or German)

If you have an interest in joining the CQ WPX Contest Committee and helping with the administration of the contest, please contact me by email to k5zd@cqwpx.com.

Please respond quickly as I would like to begin the collaboration with the WPX CW 2011 contest.

If you would like to help in some way, but do not want to take on a full role, please let me know of your talents and interests. There are always special projects that can use some extra help.

Randy Thompson, K5ZD
Director – CQ WPX Contest

K5ZD announcements

New WPX Cabrillo Log Check Page

I am pleased to announce a new tool to help everyone format their logs correctly for the WPX Contest.

http://www.cqwpx.com/logcheck/

The Cabrillo Log Check page will check the format of your Cabrillo log file for any mode of the CQ WPX Contest. Use this to check your log before submitting it to the robot.

1. Select the contest mode from the list.
2. Browse to the log file on your computer.
3. Press process to upload the file and start the check.
4. Fix any errors in your log file and repeat. You may go through the process as many times as needed.

Once your log is error free, please email it to the robot address shown.

The new page supports CQ WPX RTTY, SSB, and CW. Logs can be in Cabrillo v2 or v3 format.

I invite as many people as possible to try a test log in the next few days. Looking for any suggestions or problem reports so that we can fix them before the WPX RTTY contest this weekend.

I want to specially thank Tzetzo, LZ2FQ, for his work on the programming that makes this page possible.